Easy Love
by FraiseDandelion
Summary: Twenty two year old Regina Mills works, studies, and is raising a two-year old by herself. Robin Locksley is a fellow classmate and a regular at the diner she works in. What happens when one night Robin stumbles upon a stressed out Regina and her fussy toddler? Could this be the start of a friendship, or perhaps something more? OutlawQueen. College AU.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Easy Love

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Another fic because I find it useless having all these finished chapters in my laptop with no one to read them. Hope you guys enjoy it. Un-betaed. Kind of like a college AU with a twist? Enjoy! As for IHTBH and PBP, an update will be posted within the next few days! But do enjoy this other fic! Think of it as my summer project, a bit different than what I usually write, but hope you guys like it!

* * *

Nobody told her how difficult this would all be.

Sure, she had an idea as soon as those two line appeared on that fateful white stick; but nothing quite like this.

She's exhausted, beyond so. Her eyes feel droopy, heavy, the warm dryness around them signaling her lack of sleep last night. But there are more important things than sleep right now. So she drinks from that refilled cup of coffee, not caring that it's nearly ten pm. Her headache grows by the minute as she reads and re-reads the same paragraph over and over again, the words not yet registering in her head. Frustrated, Regina puffs out a breath and closes her eyes, tears gathering painfully in her eyes as she swallows back the sobs.

 _No one_ told her how difficult this would all be.

But of course, as soon as relatives and friends found out they had been quick to judge. There hadn't been comforting words —she didn't expect them anyway, but there had been countless of barbs.

 _You've thrown your life away! And for what? Three seconds of pleasure?_

 _A child is a big responsibility which I believe you're not yet caught up for._

 _You had a life ahead of you, now this child will only hold you back!_

No one congratulated her, no, instead they criticized every decision she made, including when she decided to keep _her_ baby. She had gone to Daniel (her on and off boyfriend and father of the baby she carried) immediately after finding out, and Daniel, with his indifference face, had told her he didn't want _anything_ to do with _her_ or the kid, that he wasn't prepared to be a dad.

Neither was she

Then he disappeared, left her alone, scared, _pregnant_ and utterly heart broken at the young age of nineteen.

Regina spent her first three months depressed, living under the same roof as her mother, who, after finding out about her pregnancy, didn't direct a word at her, refused to acknowledge her presence, refused to acknowledge the fact that she was going to be a grandmother.

But her father? That had been another story. Everyday he focused on nursing her mental and emotional health, making her eat the most healthiest food and even, to some extent, allowing her to indulge in the weirdest cravings. Through every sonogram, every appointment, Henry had been there; excited, always happy, never disappointed by his daughter. And all the while he went through extreme measures to find Daniel, contacting people, here and there, his family members, anyone and everyone that could give him a clue as to where Daniel was.

And he did.

He found Daniel.

Turns out soon after finding about Regina's pregnancy, Daniel had moved to New Mexico, deciding to spend the small amount of money he had on living the life he always dreamed off, sampling every woman and drug he could get his hands on. That had been a wake up call for Regina, deciding to focus instead on building a better future for her baby, focusing on _her_ and her health and the fact that she would become a mother just by the age of twenty. So without a second glance, she put Daniel to the back of her head and focused on that tiny human being inside of her that gave her the impulse and the strength to fight for a better life.

There bad been moments, scarce, where she doubted her ability to do this, to give her baby the things it deserved, the _love_ , _family,_ _attention_ it deserved. But her sister had been there for her, telling her she'd had the same doubts when she had her little girl Grace. Of course the circumstances had been different, Zelena wasn't a single mother, battling inner demons and outside ones while being pregnant, but somehow, Zelena managed to get through to her, Regina ultimately deciding against putting up her _baby boy_ for adoption.

And then baby Henry had been born.

And everything changed.

Even her mother, who during her pregnancy couldn't even dare look at her daughter's swollen belly, changed; a full blown mega-watt smile appearing on her face as soon as Henry Mills Jr. had been born and was gingerly placed upon her arms.

No words from Daniel were heard, just a letter and some legal papers leaving her with the sole custody of their son. And for Regina Mills, that was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because at least her son will never get to see the train wreck that his father is. A curse because it made this all real for her.

She was a single mother at twenty.

Her parents had promised to help her as much as they could with everything. And they did, they do. Thanks to them Regina's now finishing her third year of studying political sciences. When Henry had turned five months, her parents had made her a deal, an opportunity of sorts that she could take if she wanted to. They offered to keep paying her full tuition (like they had been before she became pregnant), always convinced that their bright little girl Regina should still have a chance at professional growth amidst what many people still call a "mistake" but who Cora and Henry can't help but feel is a blessing to their family. So they did the offer, and Regina agreed wholeheartedly, knowing that while Henry came into her life a bit sooner than expected, she couldn't give up her own professional goals knowing that those same goals will set an example for Henry, and at the same time, those same goals will open up many opportunities for him, for _them_. So when Henry turned 6 months, she went back to college, and got a job at a local diner. And when she turned twenty one and Henry was just shy of turning one, she moved out to a rented apartment close to her workplace and university, knowing wholeheartedly that they couldn't rely on her parent's economical support forever.

So Regina Mills studies, works, and is raising a child on her own at the young age of twenty-two.

Her Little Prince, her two and a half year old Henry.

Yet, nobody told her how difficult it _would_ all be.

Regina doesn't regret it, will never bring herself to, but there are nights, like tonight, that have her wishing she would've waited a little longer. She'd spent the day before at the pediatrician, Little Henry having been throwing up all morning, a fever very noticeable on those pink chubby cheeks. She'd cried along with him, always heartbreaking to see her baby boy in such a state. But he'd gotten better quickly, and they'd gotten home late in the afternoon, an energetic boy at her side. But the stress had been too much, the fact that she also had to hand in an essay first thing in the morning didn't help. So, after getting two hours of sleep, convincing herself it'd recharge her (it didn't), Regina woke up at two am to begin her essay.

But now it's almost ten pm and she's so so _so_ exhausted; but she has a test tomorrow morning, and she really can't go to sleep.

Miss Lucas, her boss, had known about it, and she forced her out of the cash register, pushing her into the farthest booth from the entrance to her little diner, and dropped the book on top of the table.

" _I've got the rest of the costumers and Ruby has Henry. You need to study, girl._ "

Granny Lucas had said in her gruff voice, before she'd brought over a cup of coffee and a coffee jug filled to the top with the dark liquid. Without giving Regina another word, the older woman had turned and went to the kitchens.

Regina's grateful for Granny, who adores Henry with her whole life, who gives her pieces of advice that turn out to be really helpful for her. So, not wanting to further enrage the older woman she considers family, she did what Granny Lucas told her, she forced herself into studying instead of refilling cups of coffee around the diner.

But now it's late, she's tired, her shift hasn't ended yet and she _can't_ read anymore, not when she can see from the corner of her eye a movement, a soft call, soft whines, so with a small sigh, Regina closes her book. She turns to her left, insides warming up —just like they always do when she sees him, no matter how tired or stressed she is— at the sight of her two and a half year old, drinking some milk from his Cars sippy cup as Ruby sways him gently.

He won't fall asleep just yet, Regina knows this for Henry falls asleep to the soft sounds of her lullabies, and the thought is enough to relax her. She sees Ruby now, and the girl looks absolutely exhausted, so Regina stands from her place on that booth and goes to her.

"I've got him," she mutters, Ruby giving her an _I'm sorry_ look as Henry goes willingly to her. Regina shakes her head at Ruby, smiles as Henry wraps his little legs around her middle and presses his face tightly against her neck. She drops a kiss to his hairline, immediately feeling energized by the soft scent coming from his hair, and directs her gaze at Ruby again. "Thank you for watching him tonight."

Ruby offers her a big smile, playfully pinching Henry's cheek and offering Regina a small smile before she leaves.

"Are you sleepy?" Regina mutters low to her baby boy, and Henry shakes his head, giving her a big grin.

And that's enough to melt her problems away, melt her stress, tiredness, sleepiness away. She kisses his chubby cheek several times, recharging with the giggles that leave his lips and Regina smiles brightly at him, before turning back to her booth and sitting down.

The dinner is near-empty, only three regulars eating their Thursday night burger, so she focuses once again on the book at hand while she bounces Henry on her leg, trying to lull him to sleep even though she's not able to sing to him right now.

But Henry's restless, and grumpy, and he definitely has the temper of his mother. So instead of cuddling closer to her, he groans.

"I want Nemo!" Henry says, lips turning into a pout as he looks up from her lap.

"Honey, Nemo is at home right now, but as soon as we get home you can cuddle with him"

Henry shakes his head, and crosses his arms in front of his chest and this is the last thing Regina needs right now. She can handle her son in her arms while studying, she can handle him playing in the background as she does her chores, she can handle many things, she is a mom after all; but she's been stressed, tired, grumpy all day and has absolutely no humor to deal with one of his tantrums. So she raises her eyebrow and gives him that _look_ she knows will get him to stop. But Henry's as exhausted as she is, and instead of quietening down, hiccups begin to move past his lips. Regina begins bouncing him again, trying to get this fussy and incredible stubborn two year old to go to sleep or to calm down so she can at least get another ten minutes of studying.

But all it does is piss him off. Who can blame him though? He's spent all day away from his beloved pet, with her parents during the day and here with Ruby all late afternoon and night. And the realization is enough to make tears gather in her eyes because it's _not_ fair, it's not fair he gets to live his young years being passed from hands to hands as his mother tries to get them afloat.

"May I?"

A voice mutters from her left and she turns to it, immediately composing herself as she bounces Henry a little bit more and tries to hide the tears that are fast approaching. She turns to the voice and meets the eye of a young man, a blue tone she sees come to Granny's three times a week. The man is pointing to the booth in front of her, and she nods, for some reason. Regina doesn't take kind to strangers, never had and never will, but this man doesn't qualify as one. Sure, she only knows his name due to one lesson they take together and she only sees him (and occasionally laughs at his humorous tone while ordering) on those nights he visits Granny's.

But other than that, she knows _nothing_ about this _Robin_.

And yet, the kind way with which he sees her son makes her relax, makes her _trust_ him... and God knows how difficult trusting comes to her.

"I noticed you were having a little bit of trouble with this boy here," he mutters, his kind eyes moving from her to Henry, who watches him with interest, fat tears still falling from his eyes but at least the wails have stopped.

Regina doesn't speak, instead focuses on the way he amusedly acknowledges her son, trying very hard to stop him from crying. But then the atmosphere changes. Robin does a silly face with his eyes and mouth that has Henry giggling and letting out an amusedly _Do it again!_ and he does so, Henry's giggles growing in volume and pitch.

"Thank you," she mutters after a second, swallowing hard the lump on her throat, grateful that this stranger in front of her, her classmate and costumer saved her from never ending wails and migraine.

"Anytime," he nods, attention now switching from Henry to Regina. "Regina, right?" He asks with that accent ever present, a small smile on his face.

"Yes, _Robin_ ," she smiles, not full because she's tired, but still she smiles at him.

"Henry!" The little boy lets out excitedly from her lap, both of them breaking their gaze to look down amusedly at the small cute kid on her lap.

"Oh yes right, how could I've forgotten? This is Henry, my son," she mutters amidst her amusement, expecting the man in front of her to look at her differently like many people have done, but instead he turns to Henry, an excited smile on his face as he offers him his hand, to which Henry simply high fives.

"Nice to meet you, Henry!" Robin lets out excitedly, a bright smile on his face.

And for Henry, that's everything. He gets down from her lap and goes to the other side of the booth to talk with his 'new friend' and Regina rolls her eyes, because even though this child is _hers_ , his father always had that extremely social/friendly side to him, which Henry has clearly inherited. And Robin? Robin animatedly talks with her son, both of them going from topic to topic as she turns towards the kitchens, silently asking Granny Lucas with her eyes to keep an eye on them —she's very malicious about people, especially when her kid's around, but who can blame her?

So while Henry and Robin talk about almost everything —it's cute and relaxing to listen to him animatedly mess up words but continue trying, gasping for breath halfway through, and Robin keeping up— and knowing Granny Lucas has an eye on them, Regina lowers her gaze to her books.

But after twenty minutes, when the sound of giggles turn into slight snores, Regina looks up, amused at Henry's chubby face pressed against Robin's left arm, spit coming out of his mouth and landing directly on his skin.

Embarrassedly, Regina mutters an _I'm sorry_ , as she reaches for a napkin to try to get the spit off his arm.

"No, it's okay. I have three nieces and a nephew all under the age of seven. Trust me, I'm used to it," He shrugs with a smile, gaze turning once again to Henry at his side. "He's quite the bright kid."

"Quite?" Regina raises an eyebrow in challenge, and Robin looks at her with an _you know what I mean_ face before bursting to a laugh. Regina chuckles, for some reason nerves beginning to settle at the easiness that comes between them; even though she's officially known him for twenty-two minutes, but has seen him and talked with him for more than six months. But looking at him now, at the way his gaze watch over her toddler's chubby cheeks and tousled hair, Regina realizes that he's quite the specimen. But she can't afford those thoughts any longer, not when he's looking at her now curiously, a questioning look on his face. Deciding to ignore that pull in her stomach with the way his dimples adorn his handsome face, Regina clears her throat and continues. "His first word was _arroz_ , which is Spanish for rice, which is a word my Puerto Rican father uses on _every_ sentence."

They both chuckle at that, lowly, afraid to wake Henry up and Robin tenses the moment a huffed breath falls from Henry's lips, the little boy beginning to frown in his sleep. Regina turns to stand, to reach for her baby boy, but Robin's quicker. He reaches down, cradles Henry's head in his hands as he ushers him gently to lay back against the soft cushion of the booth, Henry immediately turning to his side into a fetal position.

"That's incredible," Regina mutters, amazement written all over her face at the scene in front of her, allowing herself a moment to watch the care with which Robin treats her child.

"What?" Robin asks as he straightens up.

She shakes her head, that headache now almost completely gone before smiling softly. "He doesn't fall asleep unless I sing to him."

Something close to pride appears on Robin's eyes before he shakes his head and arches an eyebrow. "Well, what can I say, I have the magic touch. Plus, I knew you needed help as soon as I saw that book. There's only one faculty member in the entire campus who uses it. Mr. Gold is not the kindest of professors, and to see you struggling with your kid while trying to read that, I just, I _knew_ I had to act."

"Thank you," she whispers honestly, swallowing down the lump on her throat at both the stress she feels right that moment, and the honesty and genuine care that comes from this man in front of her. "I take it you've taken classes with Mr. Gold?" Regina asks after a second, biting her lip.

Robin merely chuckles, a small thing from deep in his belly that has Regina chuckling along with him, that warmth bursting and spreading from her belly to all over her body. "Regina, we're in the same lecture," Robin lets out, shaking his head at the amusement those words cause him.

Her mouth turns into a silent ' _o'_ and she blushes, completely embarrassed at herself before she shakes her head. "I'm so sorry, I knew we had a lecture together but I forgot which one."

Robin chuckles and shakes his head, truly enjoying the company, the snore coming from his left and that embarrassed chuckle coming from her. "It's okay," he mutters, eyes meeting hers as he shakes his head. "So, did you manage to study even a little bit?"

And the stress returns to Regina again, her gaze shifting to Henry quickly at a small sigh he let out before turning back to Robin. "To be honest, I feel like I'll die tomorrow."

"You're not the only one. At least you've studied something!" Robin shrugs, immediately laughs at the way the evident shock on her face.

Regina near gasps, eyes growing as big as saucers. "Oh my God, Robin, what the hell are you doing here, you have to go!"

And he chuckles in response, shrugging again as he says, "I still have about ten hours to learn everything if I don't fall asleep, so."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe," he mutters with a grin, to which Regina simply responds with a roll of her eyes and a small smile.

And when Robin leaves the diner with her after her shift ends, Granny Lucas giving them both an order of grilled cheese for their night of cramming, they part ways with the promise of seeing each other again tomorrow after their test.

When Regina gets to her apartment at eleven thirty pm that night, Henry sound asleep in her arms, she puts him gently to bed, tucks him in —tight around the legs but soft around the arms- and she just stares at him. Her beautiful son, so friendly, so kind, her beautiful baby boy who deserves the world. She leans down, hand on his cheek as she drops a kiss on his forehead. Henry's Beagle _Nemo_ jumps into his _Cars_ themed bed and settles across Henry's legs. With another kiss to his forehead, and a caress to the top of Nemo's head, Regina mutters an _I love you_ and a _Goodnight_ before she turns off his bedside lamp, turns on his nightlight and leaves the door ajar.

Even though she's tired, achingly so, Regina takes a shower and heads to the dinning table, knowing full well she needs to review her notes and that damn book for the rest of her night if she wants to get at least a C tomorrow.

So with that thought in mind, Regina opens her book and takes out her notes, but not before imagining those blue eyes looking over her son's sleeping form in a caring matter.

* * *

Thanks for reading! There's, obviously, more to come! Please let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Shh, let's pretend it hasn't been 1 year since I posted the first chapter. Shhh. Also, thanks for all the fav, reviews and messages about this fic! I appreciate them lots. This one's longer! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Soft giggles travel through the small living room followed almost immediately by a soft bark, the pup trailing behind the toddler as he crosses the room and stands in front of the dining table. He looks at his mom curiously, giggles when her soft sighs softly transform into deep snores and he shrieks, a soft smile on his face as he leans in closer and taps playfully her nose, like she does to him when she wakes him up.

Recognizing her son's giggles and Nemo's barks, Regina cracks open a eyelid, catching sight of her toddler. There he stands, his Cars pajamas all a mess, light brown hair pointing everywhere, and his eyes still laced with sleep yet the slightest touch of amusement.

"Mornin' mommy," he says in that sweet sleep laden voice of his and Regina sits up straight, and opens her arms to welcome him. Immediately, Henry runs to her, climbs up her legs to sit on her lap and wraps his arms around her, snuggling against her breast.

"Good morning sweetheart," Regina mutters as she drops a kiss to his forehead, arms wrapping around his still small body. "You feeling well?"

Henry nods against her chest and nuzzles closer to her. Nemo barks at her expectantly from the floor, and Regina giggles, beckons the pup closer to her to scratch the top of his head.

She loves weekends like this, when she can spend it with Henry, when she can cuddle him, watch cartoons and eat breakfast together in her bedroom. Weekends are meant to be exclusively mother and son time unless she has to work. But today she doesn't have to, today she's free.

Today she's free? Yes, it's her day off from work. But-

Shit

She has a test!

Shit

She's absolutely late!

"Oh my God! I slept through the alarm!" Regina yells as she jumps from her seat, holding Henry tightly against her as she sprints to the bathroom, Henry shrieks and laughs all the while, amused at his momma's silliness. Quickly, Regina brushes her teeth, makes Henry brush his -a near impossible task given the fact that he has a case of the giggles today and she cannot bring herself to rain on his parade, vent her stress to him, so when he finishes (two minutes later) she heads to her bedroom across the hall and quickly scans her room for her phone, catching sight of the time.

7:09am

She still needs to get Henry and herself dressed, drop him off with her cousin Anna and then drive the twenty minute drive to her college to take the test scheduled at 7:30am.

She'll definitely be late and Prof. Gold will most definitely kill her.

.::.

He's running on a 15 minute power nap and three cups of coffee. Can feel his heart beating quickly and his body overworking in order to compensate and produce the energy he needs to finish this test and just sleep the rest of the day off, even if on the forest floor. Perhaps stop by Granny's to splurge in some good stinking carbs while he's at it, and sure, maybe even steal a glance or two at Regina.

Regina.

For months he's visited Granny's and has exchanged a few words with her here and there as he tried his best to be funny, to seem interesting, or kind. But it was only last night when he could actually sit down and have a real conversation with her. Well, not at all that real given the fact that he'd become entertained with her two year old son. But still, real enough to have him completely and utterly in awe with her. She juggles motherhood, work, and studies head on while he complains every day that he doesn't have enough time to study, to sleep, to enjoy his twenties. So last night, after helping a little bit with her much too brilliant son, he couldn't help it but think about her.

And still now, as he walks along the empty corridors to the lecture hall, his thoughts still drift to her. Did Henry woke up at all during the night? Was she able to study a bit more? Did she get any rest? Is she faring better than him?

She probably did get some sleep, did get some help with Henry. Yes, Henry's father. Is he in the picture? Probably, and the mere thought is followed by the smallest sense of disappointment. No reason for it, whatsoever. She's merely a classmate and his constant waiter at Granny's. So yes, she probably is happily married to Henry's father, and the guy probably showers them daily with love and devotion.

He shakes his head, decides it's not really his place, at all, and instead focuses on walking down the empty hall. But still, when he opens the double doors that lead to the lecture hall at 7:18am, he lets his gaze wander over the students already seating, only to be disappointed at not seeing her there. He ignores it though, the disappointment, tells himself he doesn't even really know her, and walks to the vacant spot far far away where Emma is looking at him intently, Hans seating on the seat beside her typing away in his phone.

"Were you able to finish chapter 12?" The blonde woman asks tentatively.

"We were supposed to read it?" Robin replies with a small grimace. He really had no idea.

"Oh you are so screwed," Emma replies on a laugh, before she reaches inside her bag and hands him a couple of pages. "We did a summary yesterday, if you had just come to the library you would've had it as well."

"I know, I know, but I really wasn't feeling well."

Liar.

He just really wasn't in the mood for a study group night, especially after he spent the last couple of days burning his eyelids off for his Literature of the Middle Ages' midterm and that monograph and ass eating narrative essay he had to hand in yesterday afternoon for his Narrative Theory course. A tiresome week indeed, topped with the fact that Professor Gold decided on Monday to move the test to Saturday instead of the next week like it had been scheduled. But it's okay, he guesses, Gold won't be in town next week meaning that at least they won't have to see his sly grin nor deal with his prepotent self for a few days.

No, he hadn't been in the mood to deal with Emma's persistency, Greg's lack of words, and Han's incompetence. Instead, he'd opted for a quiet evening in the town's library, opted to read a book that had nothing to do with Gold's course nor university, engrossing himself in the plot and as soon as the library closed, he'd gone off to Granny's for a bite. Of course, that in itself turned into a whole different thing altogether. He'd caught sight of Regina almost as soon as he walked into the diner, trying to soothe an anxious toddler in her arms. Is she really married to her child's father? Is her child's father in the picture? Why was Henry with her last night at the diner? Not his place, not his business. No. His business are the pages in his hands, the pages he should be trying to read-

"Hey! Get to reading!" Emma says and Robin just nods his thanks, and focuses on the paper in his hands, trying to get as much information as possible before Professor Gold's arrival.

And when the older man arrives at 7:28am, Robin realizes Regina's still nowhere to be seen.

He frowns and hands Emma her pages, muttering a 'thank you' before he proceeds to pick up his pen.

.::.

Regina runs through the empty corridors that Saturday morning. Takes a left when she catches a glimpse of the bathroom, then takes a right on the far end of the hall until she's in front of the lecture hall's doors.

She takes a deep breath, to calm her nerves, her anxiousness. It isn't lost to her how this is the first breather she's had today ever since her son's voice had woken her up. After that it had all been running and running, dropping Henry off at Anna's, only to drive twice as fast to get here and then just run once again to reach the building and now the hall.

She takes a few more deep breaths, tries not to berate herself for being so irresponsible, prepares herself for Gold's obvious negative comments and opens the door.

Just her luck, the door creaks as she pushes it open, sounding quite loud in the much too empty corridor and quiet classroom and she rolls her eyes. Of course, this only happens to her.

Everybody looks up from their tests and stare at her, some with pity, some amused, others judging but then her gaze meets Robin's and she feels the nerves she has suddenly leave her on an exhale.

He's offering her a small smile, and even though he does look well, it is quite visibly noticeable how tired he is. She doesn't dwell on it, acknowledges that she must look ten times worst and smiles back at him, before she moves her gaze to the older man a few feet away from her.

"I do not tolerate tardiness, Miss Mills," Professor Gold says lowly and slowly from his seat at the table.

"I know, I'm absolutely sorry-"

"The details for your irresponsibility do not interest me."

Regina closes her mouth on a tight line and nods, though she cannot help but feel slightly amused at the situation, even if a bit embarrassed.

"Make it your last," the older man says simply, and Regina nods. He proceeds to pull out from his briefcase a thick stack of papers and hands them to her. "You finish like the others. You've got an hour and a half, go."

When Regina turns around and walks towards an empty seat on the right corner, she looks at Robin's place and offers him a roll of her eyes when she sees him looking at her. The man chuckles quietly before she turns to sit and work through her test.

.::.

Regina finishes before him, not that she's actually paying attention, but she gathers all her stuff, acknowledge that his seat is still occupied and walks to Prof. Gold, handing him the thirteen papers of the test. Gold nods, clips the pages and slips it into a folder, asking her to sign the top of it.

As soon as she walks out of the room and the door closes behind her, Regina takes a deep breath, much like before she entered, tries to quiet her overworking mind as she lets the air cool her face, rolls her head to alleviate the ache on the back of her neck due to her posture for more than an hour.

Thank God that's over now. Another hellish week checked off of her list.

She sighs, tiredly albeit relieved, walks three steps to her right and lets herself rest against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment.

Five minutes, that's all she'll allow herself right now. Five minutes of pure relaxation, of empty halls, cool A/C, pure unadulterated silence before she has to rush again to relieve Anna of her nanny duties.

"Regina?" A voice calls from her left and Regina turns towards it, hmms in acknowledgement, before she's opening her eyes.

He stands there, all scruffy beard, red rimmed eyes from lack of sleep and slight bags under his eyes, but still, he smiles at her as the door behind him closes with a click.

"Hey," she says with a small smile, head still resting against the wall.

"Hi," he nods, a sheepish smile playing on his face. "Rough morning?"

"You have no idea," she chuckles and closes her eyes, almost falling asleep against the wall. Jesus, that's what she gets for getting an hour of uncomfortable sleep.

"I noticed, in fact, I believe the whole class noticed it."

She lets out a tired breathy laugh, her eyes opening again and straightening up her back, moving away from the wall as she looks at him.. "Well, thanks for pointing that out, I didn't notice," she says with an arched eyebrow, sarcastically but still amused as to what transpired earlier that morning.

With a playful glint, he nods his you're welcome and Regina shakes her head, laughing.

But it's as if they've run out of things to talk about, unsurprising though, they are just classmates after all and she ocassionaly makes him a coke float late at night at Granny's, so Regina bites her lower lip at the awkward silence and spares a glance at him.

He's faring much the same. Scratching the back of his head as he nods at something? She shouldn't be stalling here, much less with him, not when Henry's waiting for her to pick him up.

Yet, as she's about to say her goodbye, the door to the classroom opens again and out comes a blonde woman she's seen a few times before, her head donning a beanie. The blonde smiles brightly at Robin and then looks at Regina, her smile faltering a little and eyes squinting in confusion.

Immediately, Regina swallows and stands even straighter, her smile falling from her lips at the woman's inquisitive look.

Maybe she's Robin's close friend? An ex? Girlfriend? What does she care though, all she should care about right this moment is what she'll do with her son today. Oh right! Groceries. She has to do some groceries before she goes to pick up her son.

"Right. Emma, this is Regina," he introduces, a small gentle smile on his face and Regina swallows down at the sudden and unreasonable nerves that settle low on her belly. Emma, though she still seems a bit weary of her, offers her a nod and a small smile. "And Regina, this is Emma."

"Nice to meet you," Regina mutters with a small smile.

But the woman still looks at her weirdly, squints her eyes and shakes her head.

"I've seen you somewhere."

"Oh," Regina lets out. "I… I work down at Granny's so maybe that's-"

Suddenly something clicks for Emma because she's no longer distrustful, instead recognition dawns on her and Regina, for some reason, breathes a little easier.

"Yes! Granny's that's it." Emma gives her an excited smiled. "She makes the best grilled cheese for like one dollar and I must confess, that saves my lunch most of the time."

Regina chuckles, her nerves disappearing with it. Why was she nervous in the first place? She shakes her head at herself before answering Emma. "Yes, she's a mean cook."

"That she is!"

It goes quiet again for a minute, Emma looking between them and then to the floor before she speaks up again. "So I guess I'll see you around?" She nods to Regina, to which Regina offers a small smile and a nod. "Have a great weekend," the blonde woman tells her before she turns to look at Robin, "I'll see you in a bit."

It's the tone with which it's uttered that tugs a bit at Regina's heart, but she shouldn't act this way, she shouldn't be feeling this way, no. She's a mother, a single mother at that, and it might be that fact, the fact that she's seen her son comfortable around a man around her age, what brought on these confusing thoughts and feelings and the constant images of his blue eyes watching over her son last night. God, she has to stop this, rolls her eyes at herself for being so pathetic and almost even chuckles at herself for being so embarrassing.

Robin gives the blonde a confused look, which Emma completely ignores when she turns to Regina and offers her another small smile before she disappears down the hall.

But this time, before another awkward pause is able to settle over them again, Regina cuts it. He clearly has somewhere else to go, with Emma.

"So, I… I have to get going. I promised Henry a fun filled day."

Understanding seems to dawn on him, and he nods kindly. "Oh yes, better not keep the lad waiting."

"Yes. So, I'll see you around?"

"I'll see you around. Have a wonderful weekend."

She nods her thanks. "You too," she replies, ignoring that little voice inside her head that tells her he'll be spending the weekend with the blonde woman with the kind smile.

The door opens again loudly, banging against the wall and both Regina and Robin jump a little, drawn out of their own little reverie. A classmate comes out, who Regina recognizes as Whale, offers them a roll of his eyes and an, "I totally bombed that test," before he walks down the hall.

He chuckles at the distraught man for a moment, turning to her and saying, "That's literally how I feel on the inside."

Regina lets out a loud laugh at that, shaking her head, while hating the fact that he makes her laugh so easily. Ugh. Henry, she has to focus on Henry.

"Alright, bye," she says finally after a shake of her head, decides to look at him quickly before she waves and walks down the hall, the opposite way Emma had gone off to.

Putting out all thoughts of blue eyed men and blondes from her head, Regina dials her cousin's phone as she walks towards the parking lot, smiling immediately as Henry's sweet little voice graces her.

"You comin' mommy?" He asks, hopeful, the tone melting Regina's insides and she guesses she can skip groceries for a day if it gives her at least an extra hour to spend with her baby boy.

"Yes baby, I'm on my way already."

And though she's quite tired, the adrenaline that had filled her this morning long ago gone, she can't help but look forward to a day with her little boy.

.::.

Robin stares for a moment at her retreating form, before turning and walking opposite to her. When he walks out of the building, he rolls his eyes at Emma's form on the bottom of the stairs.

"What was that all about?" He asks with a roll of his eyes.

"I had to find an excuse to leave. You guys were having a weird thing going on that I didn't want to be a part of," Emma shrugs and Robin rolls his eyes yet again at her.

"That weird thing going on was pure awkwardness at having _nothing_ to talk about," he says on a chuckle.

Choosing to ignore his cousin instead, Emma starts walking down the road towards the row of cars parked, "Mary-Margaret's already there, so, we should get going!"

He groans, the thought of spending the day and the next surrounded by Mary's much too chirpy voice annoying him. " I already can't wait to sleep this day away."

"Too bad you had plans already and you can't cancel them," Emma says matter of factly as she opens the door to his truck and gets into the driver's side, starting the engine almost immediately. "Hurry up, dude, we still have to pick up the essentials."

Robin groans again before he gets into his truck. At least it's camping, and though he'll dislike Mary's talkative self, at least he'll be surrounded by nature, alcohol, pot and good music.

.::.

Regina spends her Saturday afternoon at the park with her son, then heads to her apartment somewhere around three, after the lad complained in tears of being too tired and wanting a nap, news that she reciprocates. She lays him down on the couch, slips out of her shoes and cuddles to his side, falling asleep as soon as she drops a kiss to his locks.

When she wakes up, the sun is low in the sky, Henry is still snoring lightly in her arms and she stretches out, careful to wake up the lad. She withdraws her arms from around him, and sighs as she sits up.

Jesus

She's still so tired, but feels the slightest bit energized, so she stands up, Nemo perking up from the loveseat at the movement. She pads her way to the kitchen, wracking her brain over what to cook for dinner. Deciding on a tuna melt for her and grilled cheese for Henry, she begins preparing their sandwiches and decides to stir up a tomato soup for the little boy. Henry wakes up when she's halfway through the preparation, calling out to her from the living room. She smiles at him from the kitchen, her insides doing flip flops as he stands on the couch all sleepy and cute and lovable, smiling at her through half lidded eyes.

"Good nap?" Regina asks, smirking when her son giggles and nods before he starts jumping on the couch. She arches an eyebrow at his movements, and calls out his name sternly. The boy shrieks and giggles before he gets off the couch and runs towards her, Nemo trailing behind. Her little tasmanian devil, a ball full of energy right after a nap, quite exhausting at times but mostly amusing. He bumps to a stop against her legs, hugging her before jumping up and down.

"Up, up!" The toddler demands and Regina moves the pot to the backburner, not taking any chances of him getting burnt, before she's picking him up, holding him against her side.

"You hungry, baby?" She asks in a soft voice, to which Henry nods against her shoulder. "Well this will be done in a bit."

They eat comfortably in the living room as they watch a movie of his choice, this time opting for The Lion King, his giggles and hers travelling around the small apartment with Timon and Pumbaa's silliness.

.::.

Robin sits on a log on the forest floor, chuckling as Mary Margaret dances her high away barefooted next to the flames. Her boyfriend, David, laughing at every move she makes, both lost in their own world.

Emma, on his left, passes him the half burnt blunt, quickly he takes a small drag before he passes it to his left where Will is snogging with his girlfriend Anastasia. The Doors play loudly over the speakers, and Robin though relatively alone in the group, sings along to the lyrics almost effortlessly as he ignores the fact that Mary Margaret is now grinding on top of a laughing David.

In less than three minutes, the brunette takes her boyfriend by the hand and immediately pulls him to their tent, saying a rushed Goodnight, before she's zipping up their tent. Emma chuckles beside him, before she stretches on the log and stares at the fire in front of her.

"I guess we'll have to turn up the volume."

Robin chuckles and shakes his head. "I think I'm going to head out for a little bit, I'm quite hungry and kebabs just don't cut it for me tonight."

"You don't have to head out, Neal can bring something over."

"God, Neal will get here somewhere around two a.m. and I rather not wait three hours for my food! It's fine, I'll come back again soon."

"Oh fine, just go," she rolls her eyes, leans forward and grabs the ignored blunt away from Will's grasp, the hand wrapping around Ana's slim body, pulling her closer to him. "Just leave me with the fornicators."

"Need I remind you I'll be the one sleeping alone in my tent tonight?"

"Hey, it's not my problem you're too uptight to get laid," she says on a shrug.

"Not uptight, just giving myself some alone time," he says matter of factly.

"I'm just saying, you and Marian could've had that," she points to Mary and David's tent, "every camping weekend."

"Yes, and we called things off."

"Because you were too uptight."

"No, because we just needed a break from one another," he says, rolling his eyes, but smiles at her nonetheless.

"My mistake, sometimes I forget that you do believe in that soulmates thing."

Robin sighs at his cousin's tone and shakes his head. "Not soulmates, just, Emma, I truly believe that there's someone out there who will make me feel intense things, not just a spur of the moment sort of thing, you know?"

She guffaws at that. "Oh Robin," she shakes her head and rubs his cheek, giving him a look full of pity, "you motherfucking idiot."

"What," he laughs, a full blown laugh from deep within.

"I'm just saying, life isn't a novel, Robin, and maybe, just maybe we won't actually get to find that amazing person who rocks our whole world."

"I like to believe that I will, Emma," he whispers, a little bit more serious this time, just staring at here intensely.

Emma groans and rolls her eyes. "Jesus Christ I hate you when you're high, you literally turn into a Nicholas Spark's novel."

He laughs a bit louder than he intends to, and shrugs. "I'm going now, you want me to get you something?"

"Yes, I want you to get away from me before that shit gets contagious," she deadpans and Robin guffaws, pushing at her playfully before he stands up and walks away from the camp.

The moon shines bright from the sky, illuminating the subtle path from their camp to where it leads to where their cars are parked, a ten minute or so trek until he reaches his truck and backs away from the bumpy spot, drives through a short dirt road before he reaches the main road.

When he gets to Granny's, he already knows what he's going to order, tries to keep his anxiousness down as he rolls up his window. It's not even that he's hungry, he isn't, he's just in the mood for something sweet, a float or a pie, just something extremely sweet/ He can go to any other place to get food at this hour, but for some reason (he knows why, it's her), he finds himself drawn to this place. She probably isn't even working tonight, she clearly stated that morning that she'll spend the rest of the day with her son, so there's absolutely no reason for her to be here. Hell, she's probably currently sleeping the night away with Henry's father, maybe cuddling together, watching their smart toddler sleep with a slight smile on their faces. Regina isn't here.

Yet when he enters the diner (it's bustling, even at eleven thirty o'clock), he feels the slightest twinge of disappointment settle on him at not seeing her around the diner. But he ignores it, instead shakes his head and sits down on a bar stool.

"Not that's any of your business, but she's off tonight," Granny mutters from behind the counter as she places a slice of cherry pie in a ceramic plate. If it weren't for her arched brow above the rim of her glasses, he would've thought he'd imagined that. But the older woman, owner and manager of the establishment, merely cleans off the crumbs off her thumbs on a cloth and walks to stand in front of him, placing the plate with the pie in front of him. At his confused and questioning look, the old lady shrugs, "This one's on me, as a thank you for last night."

Oh and that's, that was-

"Oh, it was nothing," he smiles sheepishly and shrugs.

"Perhaps it's nothing to you, but to an overworked, overstressed single mother, it's worth a little more than that," the older woman finishes and starts to head back to the kitchen.

"Thank you," he calls out to the woman, and she stops dead in her track, just cracks a small smile at him before she walks into the kitchen, never to be seen again.

Single mother. So no dad in the picture. No cuddling with a husband while Henry sleeps a door down. Well at least, not that the lady he's come to know as Eugenia knows of.

Excitement pools in his belly, finds himself smirking at nothing as he takes a bite of the cherry pie and just groans as the sweetness explodes in his mouth. And when he finishes eating the generous pie, he drops a five dollar bill (it may have been on the house but he can still tip them), pinches it with the ceramic plate and walks out of the diner, feeling slightly better and for some reason (it's her) relieved.

When he reaches camp, Emma is drinking in front of the fire, Neal on her side. He says his quick Hello before he walks into his tent, zips it closed and slips out of his shoes and clothes. He slips into his cot, sighing as his back rests against the thick cot and he closes his eyes, thinking about the brown orbs of Regina and the hazel one of her son's.

But he shakes his head, disliking how the family of two have already woven themselves into his head, with no purpose whatsoever of leaving it.

.::.

Sundays are for fluffy pancakes and crispy bacon paired with apple juice for her son and a big mug of coffee for her.

It's their little ritual. Whenever she works on this day, her shift normally starts sometime after nine. So be it early in the morning, or a little bit later, they always have breakfast together on Sundays. But they do it quickly today, load up on the sugar infused food before she's rushing to the bathroom, showering them both, washing her hair as he sits on the bottom tub, right next to where she's standing, kicks and play with the bright colored letters floating in the shallow puddle water. Quickly, she crouches down to wash his hair, adoring the scent of L'Oréal kids, still careful not to get any of it in his eyes. Once she finishes rinsing his head, she gets out of the shower, lets the water go down the drain, leaving Henry in it as she dries herself and slips into her underwear and black tee. Immediately, she grabs his hooded Nemo towel from the rack and grins as he stands up in the bath, but he's too quick, loses his balance for a second before he's slipping and falling on his butt.

"Careful, baby!" She says as she rushes to help him get up, feeling relieved at his giggles and throwing the towel over him, the figure of Nemo over his head.

"Sorry mommy, I'm just 'cited!" He lets out on a shriek.

"You are?" She asks, opening her eyes wide, awaiting a response even though she knows exactly as to why her son is so anxious to get ready.

"Yes! I wanna play with Pops!" He near shouts then sprints out of the bathroom across the small hall and into his room.

"Careful honey!" She calls out after him, amused as she always is by him.

It still warms her heart, how her son and her father are completely taken with each other. How her dad, sped up his retirement just so he could spend more time with his grandson. She guesses it must be due to the fact that her niece Grace is on the other side of the world, growing bigger by the minute and visiting only during the holidays, but calling her grandparents weekly. Henry is the only grandson they have in the same country, and for the nights and days they don't spend with Grace, it eases their hearts to spend them with Henry. Either way, she loves the fact that her son is able to grow up in such a loving family, for while Henry Sr. woves himself into Henry's heart by games and jokes and extremely adventurous bedtime stories, Cora woves herself into his by his tummy, always feeding the growing boy whatever he wants.

Quickly, she hangs her towel on the rack and follows his steps into his small room, smiling as his naked little body pulls out piles of clothes from his drawers.

"Honey, let mommy pack the bags, okay?"

She cannot afford her son making a mess in his room right now.

When she gets to her parents estate, somewhere around eleven am, Henry's kicking in his car seat, pulling at the safety belt on his chest, wanting to get out as soon as possible. She parks behind her mother's mercedes, slides out of her SUV and immediately opens the door to help her son with his car seat. Once free, Henry jumps to the empty seat on his left and into his mothers arms, wiggling until she lets him stand on his own. And when Henry Sr. and Cora walk out to the front porch, Henry shrieks a laugh as he runs to his grandparents.

.::.

Breakfast is his specialty whenever they're camping. He makes them biscuits, crispy bacon, eggs and beans along with a cuppa coffee as the rest of the group focus on packing their things up so they have less to do during the late afternoon when they're set to leave.

Today is no different.

He cooks as John Little folds his tent behind him, saying loud expletives because he's fucking hungry.

Quickly, breakfast is served and the group of eight (the rest of their group had been too busy with work and university to come) eats gratefully. Anastasia makes some lewd jokes from his side, Will guffawing at her, and John Little calls for a quiet moment, before he's throwing comments about David who's on his right.

He's known them since he was fourteen years old and moved to Storybrooke to live with his Dad, and they had been more than welcoming. They became their own small family, what with seeing each other basically every day -happens when you live in a small town with a population of two and one dog, studying together in high school and living within 3 minutes from one another. College should've separated them, but it didn't. David, Mary, Emma, and him chose to go to University of Central Maine, less than an hour away, while John, Neal, Will and Anastasia decided to join the workforce. The rest of the crew either moved out of Maine, or are studying abroad, but they still keep in touch from time to time. They've become their own little family, and for that Robin couldn't be more grateful. But still, something tugs at his heartstrings when Anastasia pulls at Will's hand, the two of them going on a hike, disappearing further into the woods. When Marian had been with him, it was all different. They would've cooked together, then they would've gone to the spring two miles away from them to spend their morning together.

But he doesn't get to have that anymore. Mutual accord.

Instead he gets to do _this_ , play cards with John over a cup of tea, Pink Floyd on the radio.

.::.

Her son's giggles can be heard all the way from the backyard to the kitchen, and Regina finds herself relaxing at the sound, smiling even though her hands are wrist deep in a bowl filled with raw ground meat.

Her mother is sprinkling a bit of seasoning, adding chopped onions, instructing her to mix it well, but careful. She does so, squeezes a bit and tries to mix it as well as she possibly can. Then she gently forms seven balls of meat, handing them off to her mother who immediately presses into it, giving it the form of a patty and placing them on wax paper.

When Regina finishes, she takes the bowl to the sink and catches a glimpse of her father and Henry in the backyard through the kitchen window. Her father's excitedly waiting for him at the bottom of the small slide, and Henry's laughing, letting out those deep belly laughs she loves so much as he slides down and to her father's awaiting arms.

"He's a happy kid, Regina, you're doing a splendid job," her mother's rich voice travels around the pristine kitchen.

Regina smiles and nods, wipes her hand on a towel and then dries off the surface of the counter before turning to face her mother. The older woman rests her back against the island, hands crossed as she looks at her daughter lovingly.

"What?" Regina asks, biting her lower lip at her mom's obvious gaze.

"Nothing," the older woman shrugs, looks at the window behind Regina before meeting her gaze again, eyes now holding a small hint of sadness to them. "Your father and I have just been talking about you a lot these past few days."

Regina looks at her, a confused look on her face and Cora just shakes her head.

"He told me you're going to put Henry in daycare?"

Regina smiles, a sad small thing. "Yes, it'll be good for him. You know how he's so social, meeting new kids his age will definitely do him good."

"It will be," her mother says a she offers her a small smile. "It'll be good for you too."

"I don't-"

"How are you?" Cora interrupts, straightening her back

"What?"

"How are you? You see I was a mom too, Regina. Nobody ever asks _us_ how we are," the older woman finishes, a small sad smile on her face as she shrugs.

Regina swallows hard at that, and nods at her mother, her shoulders sagging, adapting more of a laid back attitude. How is she? Well she's tired, could sleep for three days straight, is stressed out while constantly worrying about her abilities as a mother.

"I've just been really really exhausted these days. Henry was under the weather during the beginning of the week, which meant almost no sleep on my part, then university was also another feat this week and I'm just incredibly sleepy," she whispers at her mother, feeling the exhaustion cling to her every bone, allowing herself a moment of pure sincerity.

Her mother simply nods at her and swallows hard before she moves to Regina's side, back resting against the counter, shoulder to shoulder with her daughter. She stays quiet for a moment, before she takes a deep breath.

"Regina, I know that you want to be a supermom. I know you want to handle everything by yourself because you feel like you owe that to Henry. But I'm telling you sweetheart, that it's okay to ask for help once in a-"

"I don't need help," Regina interrupts stubbornly.

"No, Regina, you don't _want_ help. There's a difference," her mother points out, rolling her eyes.

Regina sighs and swallows hard, shaking her head.

Cora merely sighs before she's crossing her arms in front of her chest and bites her lower lip. "You know, when I had Zelena I was pretty much like you. I overworked myself, I was stubborn, and I refused any help because somehow I was convinced that even doing that would mean that I was a bad mom. So I know and I completely understand how you are feeling Regina, because once upon a time I was you. But my point is, sweetheart, that your dad and I are here for you if you need any help. Just because you're a mom of your own doesn't mean you stopped being our daughter."

Regina smiles kindly at her mother, wetness gathering around her eyes before she nods.

"I'm truly fine, mother, just tired."

Her mother smiles sadly at her and nods. "Go lay down for a little bit, we'll take care of Henry."

And because Regina knows her mother won't take no for an answer, she nods, and walks out the kitchen, up the stairs and into her old bedroom, laying down in the bed for a little bit.

She'll only rest her eyes, allow the cool breeze from the a/c relax her a little bit, and soon she's falling into a deep sleep.

.::.

Monday morning finds Regina with an energy she hasn't had in more than a week. At six am she wakes on an empty bed, the sky bursting into colors of orange and blues, and she stands and walks to the bathroom for a shower. Henry stayed last night with her parents because she had the closing shift last night and a lecture today at eight am. So she takes her time to get ready, even manages to have breakfast in her favorite bistro before she heads to her lecture.

She concentrates on Mrs. Johanna's voice, her deconstruction of every verse of a poem, smiling at the passion she clearly has for poetry.

The bigger part of the afternoon she spends it with her son and her parents, rolling her eyes as her mother doesn't even think twice before she's cooking the little fella what he asks for. Then, when the clock hits three pm, she drives back to her apartment, leaving Henry under the care of her parents until she picks him up tomorrow morning. It's difficult, closing shifts in the middle of the week are difficult, especially while being a single mom and university student, but she's grateful, so grateful that at least Henry doesn't seem to mind, instead loves every minute he spends with his grandparents.

The energy she had throughout the whole day diminishes somewhere around seven pm after a late afternoon in the much too busy diner, and somewhere around eleven, she feels exhaustion cling to every bone in her body, ready to pass out. Yet she does her job, collects the empty plates and wipes the empty tables. Around her, she hears the low chatter of Ruby with one of her many friends, hears Doctor Hopper talking on the phone as he munches on his slice of pecan pie, and Anton and Arlo talking in hushed tones.

The door opens, the bell jiggling slightly at the same time Regina walks away from the tables and into the kitchen, where Kristoff and Killian are.

"Everything alright, love?" The irish accented man asks, a slight grin on his face. "Why the long face?"

She dumps the plates into the sink and pours water over them before she's drying her hands up and facing Killian. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

"Oh well, we were going to invite you over for some drinks, but I guess you're not in the mood, are you?" Kristoff asks, eyes hopeful.

"I'm sorry, I'm just rundown tonight. Rain check?"

"I'll hold you to it," he grins and Regina smiles back, feels a little bit guilty at playing with fire knowing full well she won't be able to reciprocate his feelings. She knows he has a crush on her, in fact, everybody knows he's crushing on her, but she can't imagine dating him. Not when she has a baby boy that he hasn't directed a word to, perhaps a few smiles, but never a word. And besides, she's busy as it is, she doesn't have time to-

"Alright guys, fun's over," Ruby enters the kitchen with an annoyed look, "I'll need one double cheeseburger, extra cheese, pickles and jalapeño, loaded potatoes and a coke float."

So Regina sighs and gets to work, walks out of the kitchen to prepare the beverage, only to look to her side at the call of her name. Seeing that it's Robin there, her face breaks into a small smile, suddenly happy at seeing him again, though a small part of her is still thinking of the blonde woman she met two days ago. What was her name. Emme? Emma? But Robin is still sitting in front of her, looking at her with a soft smile.

"I should've known it'd be you," she lets out on a laugh, immediately hating how it came out. At Robin's confused and slightly disappointed face she adds, "Coke float and a burger on a late Monday night? Yeah, you don't see that around here that often. Maybe a…"

"Well, I would've asked for a beer but I'm not too keen on American beer. They're much too bland for my taste, no offense."

"None taken," she smiles. "So, regular coke float?"

"Yes, please."

Regina nods and turns around, grabs a tall glass from the wall, puts two scoops of ice cream, pours a soda into it and walks the two step to where he is.

"Voilà," she lets out as she places the beverage in front of him.

He mutters his thanks, and takes a big gulp, groaning immediately. "Perfect, just what I needed."

And Regina rolls her eyes and walks towards the small sink to wash the spoon she used for the ice cream as Robin continues gulping and making all sort of illegal sounds as he apparently makes love to something as simple as a coke float. She chuckles at one particular sound, wills her head to focus on what's happening now rather than other more intimate things, and blushes at the mere thought.

Quickly, she shakes her head at herself, ridding herself of images, and looks his way. He is handsome, she won't deny that, even with his eyes closed as he savors his beverage, even with his simple green hoodie, scruff and slightly tousled blonde hair. He's attractive, incredibly so. But then his eyes open, and he turns to look at her at the same time she turns to turn off the tap and school her features into a straight face.

Jesus, she's acting pathetic. Incredibly so. How old is she? Fifteen?

"What?" He asks, clearly knowing her eyes had been set on him before he opened his eyes.

Regina shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Nothing, you just seem to be enjoying that float quite a lot," she says without looking at him. Before he replies, she dries her hands off on a towel she then uses to dry the water droplets on the sink knowing there won't be another customer coming in tonight.

"Well, when I like things, I appreciate them and enjoy them _thoroughly_ ," he says, voice low, emphasizing on the last word.

It's meant to be a passing comment, something she should not think twice about, but she is, she is and is almost knocked off her feet with the underlying meaning of that. She shouldn't even be thinking about that, or overthinking about it, no, she should just quiet her mind and finish doing her job, so she can go home and talk to her parents, check out how Henry's doing, if he misses her...

"Well that came out a bit wrong, didn't it?" He squints his eyes at himself and grimaces before shaking his head.

"Nah," she chuckles, relieved at his amusement, "you're reading too much into it."

Robin grins at her. "If you say so," he finishes, taking a sip of his drink again before swallowing. "How's Henry?"

Her eyes soften, her smile too like it often does with the mention of her boy's name. It seems her son has captivated him already. "He's good. He's actually with my parents tonight, probably snoring the night away after some hot cocoa and illegal amounts of candy." She rolls her eyes, and he smiles as he looks at her.

"Well, a grandparent's job is to completely spoil their grandkid, so I bet your parents are merely fulfilling that role," he says with an arched brow.

"Oh they are. Today the little munchkin decided he wanted icing for dessert, so, naturally, my mother made him a small bowl of buttercream frosting with the excuse that 'dessert goes straight to the heart, Regina!' Meanwhile, when I was six I couldn't even get chocolate covered strawberries. So yes, they're more than fulfilling that role," she finishes with a huff and a small smile. She doesn't even know why she's telling him this, it's not like he cares, at all, he's just a regular here and a classmate. Nothing else. She shouldn't be telling him _this_ , should be talking about the test or about something in the menu. But for some reason, she just can't.

Robin laughs loudly at her and shakes his head, suddenly imagining the toddler with his hands and face smothered in the sweet sticky frosting. "You're just jealous of your son," he teases, smirking at her small grin.

At that moment the bell to the kitchen 'dings', Kristoff looking between them a bit suspicious. Regina walks to the small window to the kitchen and picks up Robin's order, smiles her thanks to Kristoff and walks back to Robin's place, chuckling when he groans at seeing his food.

"Your order, Sir. Go enjoy that burger _thoroughly_."

She shouldn't be flirting, teasing? What is this? No. No. No matter how absolutely attractive he looks, she should _not_ be doing this. She's a responsible single mother who will devote her entire life to her little son.

But then again, there's nothing wrong at all with teasing him about his use of words, right? Besides, there's a high probability that he's dating, this is merely an acquaintance making fun of another, just like he teased her of being jealous of her son. Right? It's okay. She can do this, she can allow herself this. So with a small, almost forced, smile, Regina nods and walks to the kitchen once again to help clean it for the night.

.::.

Regina's the last one to get out of the building, locks behind her as Ruby and Killian go down the front steps, Kristoff already waiting for them in his car.

"Come with us. Please!" Ruby near begs, turns when Regina walks down the step, her puppy dog eyes having no effect on her. She should know by now that the only puppy dog eyes that work on her are her son's.

"I would, but I'm so exhausted! I'm planning on catching some long overdue sleep."

"Regina, you don't have to worry about Henry tonight! We could go to the Rabbit Hole, have two drinks, play a game of pool and then that's it, you can most definitely go back to your place and sleep the rest of the week off if that's what you want!" Ruby says, hopeful eyes and Regina smiles at her friend before she shakes her head.

She can't do it. It's a weekday and though tomorrow she doesn't have any lecture and it is relatively a slow week, she's looking forward to relaxing in the tub (a luxury she rarely has the time to indulge in), with all sort of oils and bubbles and candles and yes, yes, that sounds more inviting than drinks in a relatively full bar.

"Rain check?" She asks, sheepishly.

"Careful there, lad, she owes Kristoff one too," Killian says with a grin from Ruby's side, wiggling his eyebrows at Regina, who merely rolls her eyes.

"Alright, alright," Ruby hugs Regina, "Text me when you get home," she calls out as she walks down the dimly lit yard and to Kristoff's truck, looks to her right, down the sidewalk, at something that catches her attentions and offers a small gentle smile.

"You too," she replies with a nod and a knowing smile. Truth is her friend will probably not text her tonight, but instead text her late in the morning telling her of her escapades. And it's fine really, Regina enjoys living vicariously through another person. So she enjoys the comments on a dude's incredible libido or a woman who makes her friend feel like she's the queen of the world.

And just as she walks across the yard and towards the sidewalk, she sees Robin on her right, a small smile on his face.

"Hey, I thought you'd be long gone by now," she says, surprised but not displeased at seeing him there.

Robin nods sheepishly before he walks closer to her. "Thought so too, but I remembered something that I was going to tell you on Saturday, but I clearly forgot."

"What is it?" Regina asks, confused yet interested to see what he's referring to.

"Me and a group of friends get together three times a week to sort of review our notes from our classes."

"A study group?"

"Yes, exactly, a study group. And so I just wanted to let you know that you're more than welcome to join us, of course on the days that you're free," he sighs, "of work, I mean! Because you can bring Henry if you want to. I saw yesterday how you struggled and well I imagine it's not that easy for you to study normally, so with a study group, even if you participate for like twenty minutes, at least _something_ will stay in your head."

She smiles at him, a small grateful thing before she nods.

"I'll think about it."

And he smiles, "Yeah? Ok. I'll just give you my number."

Regina halts her steps, suddenly and for some reason everything around her standing still.

At her hesitation, and the slight tug on her bottom lip (nervous?), he asks. "Or we'll talk about it another day?"

She shakes her head, and offers him a small smile. "No, no, it's okay, I'll give you my phone," she nods, pulls her phone from her back pocket and hands him to him, Robin doing the same with his with a big smile on his face.

"Robin… Thoroughly," she can't help but say on a laugh as she reads the name he put as his contact on her phone.

"So you remember who I am," he shrugs, grinning at her.

"Well I certainly won't forget now," Regina says as she shakes her head and slips her phone into her pocket. "Thanks. I'll let you know."

"Ok, looking forward to knowing," he finishes and then groans. "That's really not what I meant, I meant… yeah, just, let me know. Bye, goodnight," he says quickly and Regina just laughs at him and nods.

He simply offers her another small smile before he's watching her get into her SUV, turning around and heading to his truck when she waves and backs out of the parking.

When she gets to her apartment, Nemo's wiggling his tail excitedly, barking at her, but apart from that, her small apartment is filled with silence, a silence, she admits, is heaven to her ears.


End file.
